creekerballer Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 1 hour ago, dogtruth said: Good question . I've got an opinion on this. Unaka geographically is a lot closer to Elizabethton than Cloudland. It's just my opinion but I'll bet Elizabethton gets a lot more Unaka athletes then Cloudland athletes over the years. I know Elizabethton got the Russell kids from Cloudland but that's about it over the years that I can think of from Cloudland. If you're a decent football athlete from Unaka, you probably go to Elizabethton. I'm not saying I agree with this but it is what it is. That’s definitely part of it, heck almost every athlete I played with at Unaka, myself included are no longer on the Creek and their kids play for Elizabethton at some level currently. Lack of a consistent youth program also hurts. One of my old friends tried helping get it off the ground a few years back, he said it was awful. Couldn’t get help, parents used it like it was a time to drop all their kids off and go do whatever they wanted. He told me once his son would play for Unaka if they put any effort into helping with the youth program, but he’s moved him to Elizabethton because they didn’t. Unaka use to dominate baseball the way Cloudland does football in region 1, it was because we had a solid youth baseball program. Everyone boy at Unaka was playing baseball from tee ball on. The league there shut down and you saw the drop off in baseball too. It may be restarted again but not sure at what level or if it even is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMDog Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 22 minutes ago, creekerballer said: That’s definitely part of it, heck almost every athlete I played with at Unaka, myself included are no longer on the Creek and their kids play for Elizabethton at some level currently. Lack of a consistent youth program also hurts. One of my old friends tried helping get it off the ground a few years back, he said it was awful. Couldn’t get help, parents used it like it was a time to drop all their kids off and go do whatever they wanted. He told me once his son would play for Unaka if they put any effort into helping with the youth program, but he’s moved him to Elizabethton because they didn’t. Unaka use to dominate baseball the way Cloudland does football in region 1, it was because we had a solid youth baseball program. Everyone boy at Unaka was playing baseball from tee ball on. The league there shut down and you saw the drop off in baseball too. It may be restarted again but not sure at what level or if it even is. I've also noticed that like roan mtn the creek has had a ton of out of staters move in most are retired.you have to have youth club teams to be successful anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekerballer Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 2 minutes ago, IMDog said: I've also noticed that like roan mtn the creek has had a ton of out of staters move in most are retired.you have to have youth club teams to be successful anymore Great point, the hollow I grew up in when I was a kid had at least about 10 of us all the same age as kids running around. The last 5-10 years when I go visit my dad up there it’s more like 2 families with kids and the rest are new to the area and retired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPOPU2022 Posted October 23, 2023 Report Share Posted October 23, 2023 (edited) On 10/20/2023 at 8:38 PM, creekerballer said: That’s definitely part of it, heck almost every athlete I played with at Unaka, myself included are no longer on the Creek and their kids play for Elizabethton at some level currently. Lack of a consistent youth program also hurts. One of my old friends tried helping get it off the ground a few years back, he said it was awful. Couldn’t get help, parents used it like it was a time to drop all their kids off and go do whatever they wanted. He told me once his son would play for Unaka if they put any effort into helping with the youth program, but he’s moved him to Elizabethton because they didn’t. Unaka use to dominate baseball the way Cloudland does football in region 1, it was because we had a solid youth baseball program. Everyone boy at Unaka was playing baseball from tee ball on. The league there shut down and you saw the drop off in baseball too. It may be restarted again but not sure at what level or if it even is. My Dad was a Director for the Stoney Creek Youth Club in the early 70’s. Doug Buckles and several others cut Tobacco to support a grasscutters league 6-8. A Midget League 9-10. And a “middle school” league from 11-13. Jerry Hayes also lended his support. We played with old left overs (equipment) from the Rangers and whatever the Coaches and Players could come up with. We played all the other Co Schools who had a team. Keenburg, Unaka, Central, Cloudland, etc. Big Al King was the Boys Club of Carter Co Supervisor. My Dad was honored as the “Man of the Year” by the Club in 1977. Unaka athletics had a great foundation then and a competitive program. Due in part to the sacrifices of our Parents to make sure we had an opportunity to play early. I’m not sure what has happened between then and now as far as providing young kids with an opportunity to play football. But it certainly wasn’t like that when i was a kid growing up on the Creek. Edited October 23, 2023 by IPOPU2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allsportsmatter Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 how will unaka cloudland go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pujo Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 6 minutes ago, allsportsmatter said: how will unaka cloudland go Unaka may score a time or 2 but Cloudland will impose their will , only thing that might keep it close is dumb penalties and turnovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE KING Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 3 hours ago, pujo said: Unaka may score a time or 2 but Cloudland will impose their will , only thing that might keep it close is dumb penalties and turnovers. I've heard that peppers is injured and might not play. He's one of the 4 horsemen so that's a big deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekerballer Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 5 minutes ago, THE KING said: I've heard that peppers is injured and might not play. He's one of the 4 horsemen so that's a big deal McKinney will be out for us and not sure Repass shoulder allows him to throw or not. If it does he will step back in at QB if not, we may be hurting to figure out what to do offensively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appvol Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 1 minute ago, THE KING said: I've heard that peppers is injured and might not play. He's one of the 4 horsemen so that's a big deal Is Unaka QB playing. He got hurt in the Hampton game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekerballer Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 3 minutes ago, Appvol said: Is Unaka QB playing. He got hurt in the Hampton game No, he won’t be able to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPOPU2022 Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 2 hours ago, creekerballer said: No, he won’t be able to play. How many Kids does Unaka dress that are sophomores and above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekerballer Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 25 minutes ago, IPOPU2022 said: How many Kids does Unaka dress that are sophomores and above. Not truly sure. If you go by what they had listed prior to the start of the season they would have had around 20 who were sophomore or above. At least a couple from that list are injured. Not sure how many quit or joined along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.